Wire feed control apparatus



Feb. 13, 1968 A. S.TYNG

WIRE FEED CONTROL APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.

INVENTOR. Arthur S. T'yng BY ATTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1968 A. s. TYNG WIRE FEED CONTROL APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 19, 1966 INVENTOR. Arthur S. Tyng ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,368,772 WIRE FEED CONTROL APPARATUS Arthus S. Tyng, Buifalo, N.Y., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 602,751 13 Claims. (Cl. 242-82) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A take up device distributes wire in coil form for collection in a container and comprises a fixed capstan and a rotating flyer. The capstan includes a peripheral groove of variable depth formed by the opposed faces of a pair of spaced circular plates and the outer periphery of an annular disc movable radially between the plates. The flyer feeds the wire into the groove and includes a cam roller which actuates the disc during fiyer rotation to continuously force the wire out of the groove at its shallowest point into the container.

Background of the invention This invention relates to improvements in wire feed control apparatus, and more particularly to new and improved wire feed control apparatus which is particularly adapted for use as a take up device, but which also can be used as a hold back device. The term wire is used herein in the broadest sense possible Thus, it is intended to embrace one or more metallic or non-metallic threads, strands, filaments and like terms, whether covered or uncovered, or whether twisted or untwisted.

A problem common to the entire wire industry is that of gripping a moving wire without damage to the wire and without slip for feed control purposes. The problem is especially difficult where it is desired to feed a wire in coil form. Arrangements are known wherein a flyer rotates around a fixed capstan having one or more grooves and wire is discharged in coil form at a continuously varying exit point into a container positioned below the capstan. In such feeding devices, it is desirable that the wire be held in the groove or grooves and at the same time the wire must be readily dischargeable from the groove at an exit point. One known device proposes the use of a fixed capstan having a single V-shaped groove wherein two stretches of wire are positioned in the groove, the outer stretch holding the inner stretch in place. A device of this type has some disadvantages. First of all, the superposed wires may result in a wedging action which hinders the release of the wire at the desired exit point particularly when coiling softer wires. or wires having a soft coating. Additionally, there is the possibility of deformation and breakage of the wire or the inner stretch and slippage between the wires. The latter condition is particularly undesirable when feeding soft, fine wires or coated wires.

In many applications it is necessary to install a plow at the exit point in order to ensure the release of the wire, and this often causes damage to the wire or coating. In fact, the softer is the wire or coating the greater is the need for the plow, and hence the greater is the damage to the wire or coating.

Summary of the invention Accordingly, it is the purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved wire feed control apparatus which is so constructed and designed as to eliminate the aforesaid disadvantages of the aforesaid patented device. To this end, the inventive apparatus includes capstan means and flyer means relatively rotatable about a common axis along which the wire is-fed under tension either to or from another device. The capstan means include a peripheral wire receiving groove of variable depth defined by a pair of opposed faces and the outer periphery of cam follower means movable radially between the faces. The flyer means include cam means engageable with the inner periphery of the cam follower means to vary the depth of the groove during such relative rotation, idler means to control the direction of wire feed, and pressure means to contact and maintain the wire in the groove as the wire travels between the idler means and the shallowest point of the groove adjacent the cam means.

An object of the invention is to provide such new and improved wire feed control apparatus which can be used either as a take up device or as a hold back device, but preferably as a take up device wherein the flyer means rotate to feed the wire into the groove of the fixed capstan means, and the cam means actuate the cam follower means to expel the wire out of the groove at its shallowest point in coil form for collection in a container.

Other objects are to provide such new and improved wire feed control apparatus which is so constructed and designed as to permit the wire in the capstan groove to slip rather than break, while avoiding any interwire slippage and damage caused thereby; to operate equally as well with softer and finer wires as with harder and larger wires, without requiring any plow for release of the exiting wire and thereby eliminating any damage caused by such plow; to facilitate the provision of additional grooves and multiple wire wraps for added traction; to facilitate dynamic balancing of the flyer means without adding mass, and to impart the desired twist to one or more wire strands.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings wherein:

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a wire feed control apparatus constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention and shown in use as a take up device for distributing Wire in coil form, wherein the capstan is stationary and the flyer rotates in a counter-clockwise direction;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line 22 of FIG, 1, with the uppermost arm of the flyer being rotated counterclockwise into the plane of the paper for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 33 of FIG. 1 and showing the structural details of adjacent portions of the capstan and flyer on the right and the opposite portion of the capstan on the left, with the intermediate portions being broken away and the wire being omitted for clarity;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 44 of FIG. 1 and showing the pressure roller in contact with the wire in the capstan groove, and

FIG. 5 is a further enlarged fragmentary section similar to FIG. 3, but showing only a portion of the capstan to illustrate in greater detail how the upper and lower capstan plates are secured together and how the cam follower disc is arranged between such plates for limited radial movement.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of the wire feed control apparatus is generally indicated at 10, and is illustrated in preferred use as a take up device for distributing wire in coil form into a container (not shown). Device 10 includes a fixed capstan 12 and a flyer 14 rotating in a counter-clockwise direction on hollow shaft 16 about a common vertical axis XX.

Shaft 16 extends upwardly through both flyer 14 and capstan 12 and is driven in the desired counter-clockwise direction by pulley 18 and belt 20 leading from a suitable drive motor (not shown). The upper end of shaft 16 is rotatably supported in bearing 22 mounted in the base of an elongated cantilever support member 24 of inverted channel shape, while the lower end of the shaft is rotatably supported in a similar bearing 26 mounted in crosspiece 28 spanning the sides of support member 24. An idler support arm 30 also is mounted on the base of support member 24 and rotatably carries idler sheave 32 for guiding the wire W under tension from another device (not shown) downwardly through shaft 16 along axis XX.

As best seen in FIGS. 2-5, capstan 12 includes an upper circular plate 34, which is clamped between the flange of bearing 26 and cross-piece 28, and a lower annular plate 36 removably fastened thereto by a plurality of circumferentially spaced machine screws 38 extending downwardly through openings 34a in plate 34 and into threaded engagement with the internally threaded walls of corresponding openings 36a in plate 36. An annular cam follower disc 40 is arranged between spaced plates 34, 36 for radial movement inwardly and outwardly, as shown by the arrows of FIG. 5, and this movement is limited by washers 42 closely surrounding screws 38, but fitting loosely within corresponding oversize holes 44 in disc 40. Necessarily, washers 44 are slightly thicker than disc 40 to facilitate the desired radial movement of the disc between the opposing faces 34b, 36b of plates 34, 36.

These opposing faces, together with the outer periphery 40a of disc 40 form the side faces and bottom face respectively of a peripheral groove 46 of variable depth around capstan 12, as can be seen readily from FIG. 3, wherein the groove is shallowest on the right and deepest on the left. The upper plate 34 extends slightly radially beyond lower plate 36 to ensure retention of wire W in groove 46, but both opposing faces 34a, 36a are rounded at their outer edges to facilitate removal of wire W at the desired point, as shown in FIG. 1.

Part of the mechanism for varying the depth of groove 46 is formed by an annular cam follower ring 48 which has a shoulder 48a slidably supported on a shelf 36c on the inner periphery of lower plate 36, as best seen in FIG. 3. The outer periphery 48b of ring 48 engages the inner periphery 40b of disc 40 so that both the ring and disc move together.

The remainder of the mechanism for so varying the depth of groove 46 is a cam roller 50 which is rotatably mounted, such as by bearings (not shown), on both shaft 52 extending through arm 54 of fiyer 14, with the roller being spaced above arm 54 by collar 56 on shaft 52, which is secured in place by nut 58. Cam roller 50 is located on arm 54 so that it revolves with the arm and its outer periphery 50a rollably engages inner periphery 480 of cam follower ring 48 about a circular path of greater radius than that of inner periphery 48c. Hence, as fiyer 14 rotates relative to fixed capstan 12, cam follower ring 48 and disc 40 are continuously urged radially outwardly to reduce the depth of groove 46 to its shallowest point directly opposite the interengaging peripheral portions 48c and 50a of ring 48 and roller 50, respectively. If desired, the groove actually could be made to disappear completely, by further increasing the radius of the circular path of the cam, and the terms shallowest point are intended to include this result also.

This arrangement effectively ensures removal of wire W in the desired coil form, for deposit in a container (not shown). At the same time, as will be evident from FIGS. 2 and 3, groove 46 is deepest at a point diametrically opposite its shallowest point to effectively ensure retention of wire W in groove 46 and the desired traction as the wire travels around the groove. Nevertheless, if the tension on the entering wire becomes excessive, the wire will slip rather than break.

Continuing with FIGS. 1 and 2, fiyer 14 includes another arm 60, which is arranged at an acute included angle with arm 54 (FIG. 1), and both arms are fixed on hollow shaft 16 in any suitable manner, but preferably as shown in FIG. 2. The hollow inner end of arm 54 overlies that of arm 60, which is preferably welded onto an annular collar 62 keyed on the lower end of shaft 16 and held in place by one or more set screws 64. In addition, a counter weight 66 (FIG. 1), added to counter-balance arms 54, 6t and the elements thereon, is provided with an extension plate 68 fitting over shaft 16 and superposed on arm 54, with the whole sub-assembly of arms 54, 60, collar 62 and plate 68 being secured together by screws 70 for rotation with shaft 16 and spaced from the lower end of bearing 26 by washer 72.

Arm 60 is provided on its under side with an idler support 74 rotatably carrying vertical idler sheave 76 adjacent axis XX for receiving wire W as it emerges from the lower end of shaft 16, and on its upper side with a canted idler support 78 rotatably carrying an inclined idler sheave 80 for receiving the wire from sheave 76. Likewise, arm 54 is provided on its outer end radially beyond groove 46 with a horizontal idler sheave 32 which is alined with the groove for receiving wire W from sheave 80 and for transmitting the wire to the groove as best seen in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, sheave 82 is rotatably mounted on the reduced upper end of stub shaft 84 which is fixed on arm 54 by a screw 86, and the open upper side of the sheave is closed by a snap in cap 88.

A bushing surrounds the lower end of shaft 84 and a hub 92, which is rotatably mounted around the bushing carries a horizontal rocker arm 94 (FIGS. 1 and 4). An idler pressure roller 96, alined with groove 46, is fixed on another stub shaft 98, which passes through and is rotatably mounted on rocker arm 94 by any suitable means such as bearings in bearing housing 102 fixed in arm 94, with shaft 98 being held in place by nut 104. Roller 96 preferably includes a pair of tapered plates 96a supporting a central disc 96b which protrudes slightly for entrance into groove 46 and rolling contact with Wire W, as well as for clearance in the groove of sheave 82.

At its outer end, rocker arm 94 is provided with an extension or ear 106 (FIG. 1) which is perforated to receive one hooked end of a coiled tension spring 108, the other end of which is hooked through any one of several perforations in arm 60. The purpose of spring 108 is to resiliently bias rocker arm 94 toward groove 46 and pressure roller 96 into the groove in rolling contact with the outer periphery of wire W adjacent cam roller 50, but preferably slightly in advance of the exit point of the wire from the groove, thereby assuring retention of the wire in the groove as it approaches the shallowest point of the groove, just prior to exiting therefrom. As will be evident, additional pressure rollers could be mounted at spaced points around the periphery of groove 46 for such Wire retention purpose, if desired.

Continuing with FIGS. 1 and 2, the above described preferred embodiment of the invention operates in the following manner. As the wire W is fed under tension from another device (not shown), it passes over sheave 32 and downwardly along axis X--X through rotating hollow shaft 16, which is driven in a counter-clockwise direction by pulley 18 and belt 20. As wire W emerges from shaft 16, it passes over sheave 76 which changes the direction of its path from axial to generally radial. Next, the wire passes over sheave 80 which changes its path to a direction toward sheave 82. Once again, as wire W passes over sheave 82, its path is changed to one generally tangential to groove 46 in capstan 12, and as fiyer 14 rotates counter-clockwise around the capstan, the wire is fed into and around the groove to pressure roller 96, and eventually passes out of the groove at its shallowest point (between cam roller 50 and sheave 82) to drop in coil form, under little or no tension, into a container (not shown) or onto another stationary receiver (not shown).

While the wire feed control apparatus has been described and illustrated herein by reference to a single preferred embodiment in use as a take up device, it is apparent that such apparatus also could be employed as a hold back device. For example, this could be accomplished by fixing flyer 14, rotating capstan 12 in a counterclockwise direction and reversing the direction of wire feed so that the wire would enter, under little or no tension, at the shallowest point of the groove and exit under tension along axis X-X.

Likewise, the inventive apparatus lends itself to various other modifications, among which are the following. Frst, one arm such as 60 could be eliminated so that the three idler sheaves such as 76, 80 and 82 would be mounted on one arm such as 54, while additional arms could be provided for additional rocker arms such as 94 and pressure rollers such as 96 at spaced points around the periphery of the capstan groove such as 46. Secondly, one arm such as 60 and its idler sheave such as 80 could be eliminated by canting sheave such as 82 to receive the wire directly from a sheave such as 76. Thirdly, if more than one wrap of the wire around the capstan groove is desired, it would be but a simple matter to provide one or more additional grooves such as 46 and discs such as 40, as well as multiple groove sheaves wherever necessary. Fourth, whether the inventive apparatus be designed for single or multiple wraps, the same could be dynamically balanced by judicious arrangement of flyer arms and sheaves, rather than by adding a'separate mass such as counterweight 66, and fifth, by properly proportioning the diameter of the capstan groove, two or more untwisted entering wires readily could be given any desired amount of lay or twist.

It now is apparent how the invention accomplishes its various objects, and various advantages of the invention likewise are evident. The scope of the inventive concept is to be determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In wire feed control apparatus including capstan means and flyer means relatively rotatable about a common axis along which axial path the wire is fed under tension, the improvement comprising:

said capstan means including a peripheral wire receiving groove of variable depth defined by a pair of opposed faces and the outer periphery of annular cam follower means movable radially between said faces,

said flyer means including cam means having an outer periphery engageable with the inner periphery of said follower means about a circular path of greater radius than the radius of said inner periphery for moving said cam follower means radially outwardly to reduce the depth of said groove during relative rotation of said capstan means and flyer means,

a plurality of wire receiving idler means,

one of said idler means being arranged adjacent said axis for changing the direction of wire feed between said axial path and a generally radial path,

another of said idler means being spaced radially outwardly beyond said groove for changing the direction of Wire feed between a path tangential to said groove and a path connecting said one and other idler means, and

pressure means biased into contact with the wire in said groove adjacent said cam means for maintaining the wire in said groove as the wire travels between said other idler means and the shallowest point of said groove opposite said cam means.

2, The improvement of claim 1 wherein:

said capstan means include a pair of plates forming said opposed groove faces with one of said plates being of annular shape and having an inner peripheral shelf, and

said cam follower means includes an outer annular disc slidably arranged between said plates its outer washers and removably fastening said plates together.

4. The improvement of claim 1 wherein: said flyer means include arm means extending radially outwardly from said axis beyond said groove,

said cam means includes a cam roller rotatably mount ed on said arm means with its outer periphery rollably engageable with said inner periphery of said cam follower means,

said idler means includes a first sheave rotatably mounted on said arm means adjacent said axis and a sec- .ond sheave rotatably mounted on said arm means beyond said groove, and

said pressure means includes a rotatable presure roller movably mounted on said arm means beyond said groove and means resiliently biasing said pressure roller into rolling contact with the outer periphery of the wire in said groove adjacent said cam means.

5. The improvement of claim 1 wherein:

said. arm means include a pair of arms extending radially outwardly from said axis beyond said groove at an acute included angle,

said cam means include a cam roller mounted on one of said arms for rotation about an axis parallel to said common axis,

said idler means includes a first sheave mounted on said arm means adjacent said axis for rotation about an axis transverse to said common axis and for changing the direction of wire feed between said axial path and a generally radial path, a second sheave mounted on the other of said arms beyond said groove for rotation about an axis inclined to said common axis and for changing the direction of Wire feed between said radial path and another path connecting said arms, and a third sheave mounted on said one arm beyond said groove for rotation about an axis parallel to said common axis and for changing the direction of wire feed between a path tangential to said groove and said other path, and

said pressure means include a rocker arm mounted on said one arm for rotation about the axis of said third sheave, a pressure roller mounted on said rocker arm for rotation about an axis parallel to said common axis, and means resiliently biasing said rocker arm toward said groove and said pressure roller into rolling contact with the outer periphery of the wire in said groove adjacent said cam roller.

6. The improvement of claim 4 wherein:

said capstan means include a pair of plates forming said opposed groove faces with one of said plates being of annular shape and having an inner peripheral shelf, and

said cam follower means include an outer annular disc slidably arranged between said plates with its outer periphery forming the bottom face of said groove and an inner cam follower ring slidable on said shelf with its outer periphery engageable with the inner periphery of said disc and its inner periphery engageable by the outer periphery of said roller cam.

7. The improvement of claim 5 wherein:

said capstan means include a plurality of washers of greater thickness than said disc and arranged in oversize circumferentially spaced holes in said disc for permitting and limiting the desired sliding movement of said disc, and means extending through said Washers and removably fastening said plates together.

8. The improvement of claim 1 wherein:

the relative rotation of said capstan means and flyer means is such that the entering wire is fed under tension along said common axis to said one idler means and travels therefrom to said other idler means and into said groove in said capstan means, while the exiting wire leaves said groove at its shallowest point, whereby said apparatus acts as a take up device.

9. The improvement of claim 6 wherein:

the relative rotation of said capstan means and fiyer means is such that the entering wire is fed under tension along said common axis to said first sheave and travels therefrom to said second sheave and into said groove between said plates, while the exiting wire leaves said groove at its shallowest point, whereby said apparatus acts as a take up device.

10. The improvement of claim 7 including:

a hollow driven shaft extending through said capstan means and fiyer means around said common axis, said capstan means being fixed against rotation, while said fiyer means rotate with said shaft relative to said capstan means in such a direction that the entering wire is fed under tension through said shaft along said common axis to said first sheave and travels therefrom to said second and third sheaves and into said groove between said plates, while the exiting wire leaves said groove at its shallowest point, whereby said apparatus acts as a take up device for distributing the wire in coil form for collection in a container. 11. A wire feed control apparatus comprising:

a fixed capstan including a pair of spaced circular plates, and a radially movable intermediate circular plate whose outer edge forms the base of a groove between the outer portions of the other plates,

guide means including a rotatable fiyer for guiding wire into the groove at an entrance point, the wire extending along the groove a distance approaching, but less than, a full turn to an exit point,

means for rotating the flyer, and

means responsive to the rotation of the fiycr for varying continuously the position of the intermediate plate to vary continuously the depth of the groove, the wire being discharged in coil form from the groove at the exit point in the region of its shallowest depth.

12. A wire feed control apparatus according to claim 11 wherein:

11 wherein:

the flyer includes a pair of guide pulleys angularly disposed about the periphery of the capstan to feed the wire in a path tangential to the capstan periphery and then to the entrance point of the groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/ 1960 Henning 242-82 10/ 1963 Kitselman 24247.08 9/ 1966 Whitacre 24282 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. 

